German and Irish law organisations demand that Messe Berlin ceases to accept the controversial French tomato producer Azura.
The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), based in Ireland, and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) released on, 6 September 2019, an open letter to Messe Berlin GmbH, the organiser of the leading Fruit Logistica trade show, and its Ombudsperson.
The letter addresses allegations of illegal conduct by one of the show’s exhibitors and Messe’s responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in relation to their hosting of this business.
The French company ‘Azura Group’ exports tomatoes from occupied Western Sahara to Europe.
GLAN and ECCHR write in a release that Messe Berlin had responded poorly to a request earlier this year to make the fair stop promoting Azura, and that the two groups therefore proceeded to publish the correspondence.
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Labelling those products as originating in the Kingdom of Morocco instead of originating in Western Sahara breaches EU law, the Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice concludes.
After undertaking work for the Moroccan state phosphate company in Western Sahara, the Danish consultancy giant COWI states that it “will not engage in further projects" in the occupied territory.
An external evaluation report on the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement 2019-2023 confirms that the agreement revolves, in its entirety, around Western Sahara.